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RPSD - EDITORIAL POLICY and AUTHOR GUIDELINES
Purpose: Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD), is a quarterly journal published by TASH (formerly The Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps). RPSD publishes articles that report original research, authoritative and comprehensive literature reviews, analysis of policy, conceptual and practical position papers that offer new directions, and descriptions of innovative practices, programs, and models of service delivery. Authors may submit manuscripts for review in any of the above categories or may choose to submit a paper as a Brief Report, no longer than 10-12 pages. Papers considered to be particularly appropriate for the Brief Report format include time series case studies of innovative interventions, curriculum evaluation reports, reports on personnel preparation program effectiveness, and replication studies. RPSD also publishes issues-oriented book reviews, by invitation only, and reader perspectives in the Exchange (see specific guidelines for these two features below).
Submission Requirements. Manuscripts, together with an abstract of appropriate length, should be submitted to Fredda Brown, Editor, RPSD Editorial Office, CUNY-Queens College, Programs in Special Education, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11367. Phone: (718) 997-5315 or (718) 997-5243. Six (6) copies of the manuscript should be submitted with a cover letter identifying the corresponding author and stating that the paper is not being submitted to another journal for review. Additionally, the cover letter must indicate the category of article submission (e.g., research, literature review, policy analysis, conceptual/position paper, program description, Brief Report, or Exchange).
Manuscript Preparation. RPSD requires that authors follow the style of presentation in the 2(X)2 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5" ed.). In addition to following the manual, authors should note that all sections should be typed double-spaced on 81/2 by I 1-inch paper with at least a 1-inch margin on all sides; six (6) clean copies should be submitted (the author should retain the original). Camera-ready prints of figures and photographs should not be submitted until after an editorial decision to publish has been communicated to the author; clean copies of these materials are sufficient for the review process. Manuscripts are reviewed anonymously: the running head should never include the author's name or other identifying information. Address technical questions regarding manuscript preparation to the RPSD Editorial Office. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be asked to submit the final version of the manuscript in disk format as well as hard copy.
Language. Words such as "the handicapped" and "the retarded" should never be used as nouns. In general, phrases such as "persons with severe disabilities" and "children with autism" are appropriate. As indicated in the APA publication guidelines. a term more descriptive than "subjects" should be used in empirical research reports; a pseudonym first (children) or last (adults) name generally is acceptable. All RPSD articles will be edited to adhere to TASH policies on language, which are available from TASH Executive Offices:
Description of Participants and Programs. Authors should include sufficient descriptive information on persons involved in research reports and program descriptions to allow the reader to determine the relevance of the information in the article to the individuals of interest to him or her. This may require a table describing participants (including age, gender, information on functional level and adaptive behavior, and any other information directly relevant to the paper). Intervention procedures should be described in sufficient detail to allow for replication, and readers should be invited to write to the author(s) for more information.
Educational Validity. RPSD emphasizes ecological and educational validity in the content of the journal. Applied research conducted in actual service delivery and community environments is likely to be more relevant to our readers than research conducted in highly artificial and controlled settings. Reports of validated interventions should also strive to meet three criteria for educational validity: (a) a demonstration of behavior change associated with the intervention or independent variable(s); (b) why and how the behavior change is meaningful; and (c) a description of the program strategies used that is replicable, along with documentation that implementation of those strategies was reliable. Papers will be accepted for review and possible publication in the journal even though components of one of these criteria may be absent, but authors are encouraged to incorporate each into their study design and report.
Review Process and Editorial Decision. Articles submitted are sent for review by the Editor or Associate Editor to four anonymous reviewers, generally, three selected from the Editorial Board and a fourth Guest Reviewer, each of whom is selected for particular expertise and interest in the topic involved. The review process takes from 3 to 4 months, at which time the editor responsible for the manuscript will communicate the editorial decision to the corresponding author along with a summary of information critical to the decision and, if appropriate, for the revision of the manuscript for either publication in RP,5D or resubmission for a second review.
Copyright. Authors submitting a manuscript do so with the understanding that if it is accepted for publication, copyright belongs with TASH, including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media, and not to the author. TASH will not refuse any reasonable request by the author and/or others for permission to reproduce any of his or her contributions to the journal. Requests to reprint, cite excerpts, and so forth, are sent to the Editor, who must grant permission (and will usually consult with the corresponding author).
Proofs and Reprints. Authors will receive galley proofs directly from the publisher approximately 5 to 6 weeks after the issue has gone to press. Authors are given a 48-hour turnaround time to proof the galleys and return corrections to the copy editor. The author may only change typeset errors at this stage, and any changes that exceed these errors should not be made: if such changes are made, the author will be charged. Authors will also be given the opportunity to order reprints at this time: these arrangements should be made directly with the publisher. Two complimentary copies of the issue itself will he provided to each author upon publication. A "reprint request" note, which will include the corresponding author's name, mailing and c-mail address, will be added by the editorial office as a first page footnote to each paper. This note must remain for each article to allow interested readers to contact the author regardless of how he or she chooses to respond to reprint requests.
Books for Review. The book reviews published in RPSD are issues-oriented, with an emphasis upon discussing the content and perspective of a book in relationship to critical developments in the field. Only current year books are reviewed. Book reviews are solicited by invitation only; however persons interested in doing such a review may contact the Editor. Publishers wishing to submit a book for possible review send it to the Editor. Books submitted for possible review will not be returned to the publisher. Reviewers will receive a complimentary copy of the book. Publishers will be requested to send a complimentary copy of the reviewed book to the TASH Executive Offices to be included in the TASH library.
Exchange. RPSD also publishes short, thought-provoking articles that present the author's views on important issues in the field. The Exchange includes thoughtful perspectives on current controversies or new developments in practice and research, responses to articles published in RPSD and other sources, and personal reflections about the author's experiences as a participant in the disability field. Perspectives from all RPSD readers are encouraged (e.g., self-advocates, family members, teachers, researchers, policy-makers). Submitted articles must be no more than 8 double spaced manuscript pages and will undergo a non-anonymous review by two members of the senior editorial board, plus one editorial board member or invited guest reviewer with particular experience or interest in the topic. Acceptance for publication will be based on the manuscript's perceived importance, timeliness, and contribution to the field.
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